Conservation Biology Reflection

The rare plant that I chose to research is the Autumn buttercup, or Ranunculus aestivalis. The Autumn buttercup is a short-lived herbaceous plant. It is part of the Ranunculaceae or Buttercup family. One characteristic of this plant is that it is very short, usually less than two feet. The flower on the Autumn buttercup is very small, less than 1 cm, and is made up of 5 yellow petals. Another characteristic is that the leaf arrangement is basal. The leaves on the plants have three large lobes with palmate veins. One characteristic about the plant is that it has only been found to grow in wet saline meadows. [1] The Autumn buttercup flowers also usually bloom during the later summer or early fall. It is found currently only in Utah. The Autumn buttercup’s range prior to being endangered was only along the Sevier River Valley in Utah. They are still currently near where they were originally found and still in the Sevier River Valley, so their population size is very small.[2]

At first the Autumn buttercup was predicted to be extinct after they couldn’t find any, but eventually some more of the plant was found separated from the original population that was found. The plant became endangered in 1989 when the size of the population decreased by about ninety percent. The size of Autumn buttercup population decreased so much because livestock were allowed to graze on the only location where they were located in Utah.[3] Another cause that could have made the Autumn buttercup endangered is change in climate that the plant is not used to and more water going into the areas that they are located.[4] The Autumn buttercup needs to be conserved because it is a very rare plant and is only known to exist in one area, so it needs to be studied so it can be figured out why it only grows in a certain area. Also, if the Autumn buttercup is found in another place, the plants in the different climates can be compared. By allowing the plant to be conserved, the population can be able to increase.[5] The Cincinnati Zoo is helping to conserve the species by sending some of the younger plants to be grown in a controlled environment at the Arboretum at Flagstaff. Once the plants were healthy, they would be planted near the location that they were originally found. They also stopped the livestock from eating the plants to preserve them.[6]

[1] Tilley and Ogle and St. John, “Plant guide for autumn buttercup (Ranunculus aestivalis).”

[2] Hotze, “Autumn Buttercup.”

[3] Tilley and Ogle, “Plant guide for autumn buttercup (Ranunculus aestivalis).

[4] “Autumn Buttercup.”

[5] Pence, “Buttercups Return Home.”

[6] “Retuning Plants to the Wild.” 

Bibliography

“Autumn Buttercup.” Encyclopedia.com, https://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/science-magazines/autumn-buttercup (accessed September 30, 2018).

Hotze, Bekee. “Autumn Buttercup.” U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, https://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/factsheets/Autumn%20Buttercup%20FactSheet_061913l.pdf (accessed September 30, 2018).

Pence, Valerie. “Buttercups Return Home,” Cincinnati Zoo Blog, February 13. 2013, http://blog.cincinnatizoo.org/2013/06/13/buttercups-return-home/ (accessed September 30, 2018).

“Returning Plants to the Wild.” Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, http://cincinnatizoo.org/conservation/field-projects/returning-plants-to-wild/ (accessed September 30, 2018).

Tilley, D., St.John L., and D. Ogle. “Plant guide for autumn buttercup (Ranunculus aestivalis).” USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service, Idaho Plant Materials Center, https://plants.usda.gov/plantguide/pdf/pg_raae.pdf (accessed September 30, 2018).